Service breeches



Dec. 22, 1931. J. A. LIEBERMAN SERVICE BREECHES Filed Jan. ll, 1930 Patented Dec. `22, 1931 iiirso STATES gra'rEN'i OFFICE JOSEPH A. LIEBERMAN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA SERVICE BREECHES Application led January 11, 1930. Serial No. 420,036.1

leg of the person wearing the breeches. `The amount of adjustment thus available was necessarily limited, and was not always comfortable to the wearer. Furthermore, the

fastening or tightening. of buttons, buckles,

or laces consumed considerable time and involved considerable trouble. A further disadvantage is that the provision of buckles,

laces, buttons, `or other adjusting vdevices added considerably to the costof production and called for replacement and repair.

It is therefore the object of my invention to produce a'novel leg constructionfor service breeches, whichwpossesses a Wide range of adjustment and accommodation `without the aid of any extraneous fastening, adjusting, or tightening devices, thus eliminating all eort and labor heretofore involved in the putting on and taking off of the breeches and reducing the cost of production.

To the above ends, my invention consists in providing the knee and calf portions of the legs of breeches with elastic strips or bands which extend from `the bottom edge of the breeches to a point above the knees and which are so arranged as to make the legs of the breeches fit the legs of the wearer regardless of the particular shape or size of the legs of said wearer.

My invention further consists of various Y other novel features of construction and advantage, all as hereinafter described and claimed.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown in the accompanying drawi ings two forms thereof which are at present "found in practice to give satisfactory and preferred by me, since the same have beeny .reliable results, although it isito be under- Y stood that the various instrumentalities of which my invention consists can be variously yarranged and organized and that my inventioii'is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of the instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

Inthe accompanying drawings:

Fig. l represents a front diagrammatic view of a novel service breechesconstruction embodying my invention, shown in actual use.

F ig.v 2 represents on an enlarged scale, a portion of the leg of a pair of breeches embodyingmy invention, showing details of construction.

Figs. and 4 represents on an enlarged scale plan'views of the elastic members employed in a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 5 represents a section on line 5-5 of`- Fig-6 represents a section on line 6--6 of Fig. 2. i f Referring vto the drawings, in which similar numerals of referenceindicate correspondingV parts, l designates a pair of breeches having the legs 2 which are composed of the front and rearsections Sand 4;

the outer edges 5 of which are inturned and `joined by the seam 6. The yfront section-3 of the leg 2 of thebreeches is provided with .a reinforcing patch 7, the edges 8 of which are .inturned Aand secured to edges of the. front section 3 by the seam or stitches 9. The

l reinforcing patch 7 covers the knee portion of the breeches which is exposed to excessive wear and when said patch is Vworn out it is removed yby a simple ripping operation i and a new patch is sewed on, thus renovating the breeches and prolonging its life. lThe inside edges 10 and 1l of the front and rear sections 3 and 4 of the leg 2 are spaced by the elastic adjustment strip 12 ofworsted or v knitted wool or `any other elastic, eXpansible material, and which will next be described;

The strip 12, best kseen in Fig. 2, is substantially rectangular at its lower portion "with thefopposite vertical edges thereof Fig. 7 represents a section on line 7-7 of joined to the edge 11 of the rear section 4 by the seam 15 and to the edge 10 of the front section 3 by the seam 16. The bottom edge 17 of the strip 12 is substantially flush with the bottom edge 18 of the leg 2 which is inturned and secured by the sea-m 19.

The upper portion of the strip 12 is of a substanti-ally triangular form with the hypotenuse of the triangle formed of the arc of a circle so that a generally upwardly tapering eifect is produced.Y The arcuate or tapering edge of the strip 12 meets the opposite vertical edge at the point 26, as will be understood from Fig.2 28 designates a reinforcing strip which is secured to the upper arcuate edge and lower corresponding vertical edge of the strip 12 and to the inturned edge 11 of the rear section 4 by means of the seam or stitching 30.

If desired I may make the strip 12 of two .pieces 13 and la (see Figs. 3 and 4) with the soine construction, but I have also produced a neat and attractive appearance not available when extraneous means for adjusting the wi-dth of the leg of the breeches are employed.

Inpractice I have found that buckles or buttons are very ineffective in adjusting the leg of a pair of ready-made breeches to the size of the leg of the wearer since it very frequently happens that the difference in the Y thickness of the calf and knee portions of the legs of persons who would otherwise take a given size of breeches is greater than the range of adjustment which buckles or but tons can afford. The use of lace, while it affords reasonably satisfactory adjustment,

- is undesirable since it adds considerably to the cost of manufacture and involves considerable time and effort in manipulation. The elastic adjustment strip 12 is so knit `or made as to be expansible or to4 give or stretch only laterally or transversely and not longitudinally, so that in the event of -a person having a normal waist line and height, but an abnormally thin or thick calf or knee,

the leg of the breeches will contract or eX- Vpand, always to follow the exact contour or size of the leg, thereby producing a tight lit but not in any way interfering with the comfort of the wearer.

Since the thigh Vand seat portions of the breeches are always generously cut and proportioned, no adjustment of these parts' is necessary, and I have therefore made my novel adjustment strip of an upwardly tapering forni, the widest portions of said strip coinciding with the calf and knee portions of the breeches where the greatest amount of adjustment is necessary. From the center of the lmee upwardly the need for adjustment begins to decrease, so that a slight distance above the knee the adjustment strip tapers to and Vterminates at the point 26, as will be understood from the drawings.

I am aware that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and I therefore desire the present embodiment 'to be considered .in'all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: 1. An adjustable leg for service breeches comprising front and rear sections having their outer edges stitched togethera reinforcing knee patch stitched to said front section, and an elongated, transversely eX- pansible, elastic strip having a front vertical edge stitched to the inner edge of said front section and having an opposite, generally vertical rear edge stitched to the inner edge of said rear section, the bottom edge of said strip being substantially flush with the bottom edge of said leg, said bottom edge of said leg and said elastic strip terminating in the region of the calf of the wearer, and the upper terminal of said strip being slightly above the knee of said leg. j

2. An adjustable leg for service breeches comprising front and rear sections having their outer edges stitched together, a reinforcing knee patch stitched to said front section, an elongated, transversely expansible, elastic strip having a vertical front edge stitched to the inner edge of said front section, and having an opposite, generally vertical rear edge stitched to the inner edge of said rear section, the bottom edge of said strip being substantially flush with the bottom edge of said leg, said bottom edge of said leg' and said elastic strip terminating in the region of the calf of the wearer, the upper terminal of said strip being slightly above the knee of said leg, and an inner reinforcing strip common to the vertical rear edge of said elastic strip andthe contiguous inner edge of said rear section.

3. A service breeches including a' pair of legs terminating in the region of the calf of the wearer, each of sai-d legs having anhelastic strip more distensible transversely than longitudinally, disposed in proximity to the inner leg seam thereof, at a point between the calf and tibia portion-s of the leg, each of said strips extending fromthe lower edge of the leg to a. point above the knee of the wearer, the front longitudinal edge of each of said elastic strips being generally straight and the opposite rea-r longitudinal edge of each of said elastic strips converging up-V wardly to its junction With seid generally straight front edge at a point above the knee of the wearer.

JOSEPH A. LIEBERMAN. 

